Laboratory and field evaluation for the resistance of commonly used woods against _Coptotermes heimi_ (Wasmann).

The current study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of four wood species (_Azadirachta indica_, _Pinus roxberghii_, _Dalbergia sissoo_ and _Populus deltoides_) against subterranean termite species _Coptotermes heimi_ by choice and no choice field and laboratory trials. Of these four wood species _P. roxberghii_ and _D. sissoo_ proved to be most resistant to termite attack. Taken together these results we can conclude that _D. sissoo_ is the least preferred and _P. deltoides_ is the most preferred wood by the _C. heimi_. The data obtained from the field choice and no-choice the woods are arranged in order of preference DS>PR>AI>PD whereas in laboratory choice and no-choice trials the order of preference was PD>AI>PR>DS

Risk Factors and Outcome of Neonatal Thrombocytopenia

Introduction: About 30% of neonates develop thrombocytopenia during hospital admission. Inevitable and irreversible complications can be prevented by determining the risk factors of neonatal thrombocytopenia. The present study was undertaken to determine the risk factors and outcome of neonatal thrombocytopenia in neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the risk factors for neonatal thrombocytopenia (NT) in 160 neonates. Neonatal and maternal risk factors were recorded and neonates were categorized into three groups based on the severity of thrombocytopenia. Results: A higher percentage of the neonates 89 (55.6%) were male. The majority (61.9%) had moderate neonatal thrombocytopenia while 21.9% had severe neonatal thrombocytopenia. A highly significant difference was observed for the distribution of gestational age, platelet count, birth weight, and age at admission (for all p-value ≥0.0001) among different groups. Multivariate logistic regression revealed a significant independent association of prematurity, birth asphyxia, and low birth weight with neonatal thrombocytopenia. Conclusion: Prematurity, low birth weight, and birth asphyxia were the significant causes of Neonatal thrombocytopenia. The mortality rate increased significantly with the severity of thrombocytopenia

Epidemiological Analysis of COVID-19 Patients detected by Real-Time Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain reaction in a Tertiary Care Biosafety Level III Laboratory, Rawalpindi

Introduction: Unexpected eruption and global dissemination of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has tested the healthcare systems of both developed and developing countries.Objective: To analyze the spectrum of novel coronavirus infection in a tertiary care setup.Materials and Methods: All oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples (n=7057) were collected in a viral transport medium (VTM) for qualitative analysis by a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machine. Positive and negative controls were applied with each batch. Positive cases were stratified into mild, moderate, severe, and asymptomatic, according to the guidelines of the National Institute of Health, Pakistan. Descriptive statistical tests were applied including percentage, chi-square tests, mean, median, and mode. P < 0.05 was counted as statistically significant.Results: Average positive test rate was 18.97% (n=1339). The maximum positivity rate (26%) of COVID-19 infection was observed in June 2020. Most of the cases (60%) belonged to Rawalpindi District, were male (n=844, 63.03%), and belonged to age group (20-40 years) and mean of 36 and age range from 2-85 years. Forty-nine percent of COVID-19 infected patients were asymptomatic and only 9.8% progressed to severe disease. Overall, the mortality rate was 159(11.87%) in RT-PCR confirmed cases.Conclusion: Average positive test rate was 18.97%. The majority of the participants belonged to the young age group (20-40 yrs.) with a range from 2 to 85 years. Forty-nine percent positive COVID-19 infected patients were asymptomatic while 9.8% had severe disease

Predictive Efficacy of Haematological Biomarkers in COVID-19 infection

Introduction: The ongoing Corona Virus Pandemic is linked with high rates of morbidity and mortality globally. Early and effective predictors of clinical outcomes are urgently required to develop effective management protocols.Objective: To investigate the predictive efficacy of haematological biomarkers in Covid -19 infectionMethods: Blood samples were drawn from COVID‐19 infected pneumonia patients. Baseline clinical information was collected and quantification of hemostatic variable was done.  Laboratory data both groups expired and recovered were compared using t- test, Mann Whitney- U test, chi squared-test and Kruskal Wallis test. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine the independent contribution of haematological variable in Covid19 related mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curve were drawn to find the predictive efficacy of significantly related parameters.Results: Out of 191 patients 68.1%  were male. D‐dimer (median 800 ng/mL; IQR 200‐3200) and NLR (median 10.40; IQR 3.20-22.80) were found to be predominantly raised and significantly correlated with Covid mortality in multivariate regression analysis. The optimum cutoff value of D-dimer to predict in-hospital mortality was 450 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 71.6% and a specificity of 95.8%. The optimum cutoff value of NLR to predict in-hospital mortality was 5.450 with a sensitivity of 70.1% and a specificity of 71%.Conclusion: D-dimer and NLR could be used as the significant indicators in predicting the mortality of COVID-19

Epidemiologic Profile of Thyroid Disorders in a Tertiary Care Hospital, a Five Years Analysis

Background: Thyroid disorders are commonly encountered endocrine ailments in clinical practice.Objective: To determine the trends and frequency of thyroid disorders in patients presented for thyroid dysfunction at the department of Pathology Benazir Bhutto hospital RawalpindiStudy Design: Cross-sectional retrospective study. Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent thyroid function tests were enrolled in the study Thyroid function tests were performed on a fully automated Chemistry Analyzer. Graph Pad Prism version 7 and SPSS version 25 were used for statistical analysis of the data.Results: Out of 2856 patients, 81.9% were females and 18.1% were males. The mean age of the participants was 38.12 ± 14.51 years and the median was 35(13-96). Overall, 1951 (68.3%) of the subjects were euthyroid, 343(12.0%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism, 200 (7.0%) had subclinical hypothyroidism, 192(6.7%) had overt hyperthyroidism and 168 (5.9%) had overt hypothyroidism. Females have a significantly high percentage of thyroid disorders as compared to males(χ2 =0.976 p =0.027). The major age group 798(27.9 %) tested for thyroid dysfunction suspicion was 24 to 33 years followed by 34-43 (22.9%).Conclusions: The thyroid dysfunction prevalence was higher in females than males. An upward trend in the frequency of thyroid dysfunction was observed with increasing age. Subclinical hyperthyroidism was the commonest abnormality observed. A steep rise in subclinical hyperthyroidism may be attributed to the high intake of iodized salt

A Mosaic of Risk Factors for Female Infertility in Pakistan

Background: To identify different risk factors for female infertility including hormonal imbalance (FSH, LH and Prolactin) Methods: Infertile women were enrolled in this prospective study. A questionnaire was designed to collect information regarding socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants. Serum FSH, LH and Prolactin levels were estimated between 1-5 days of post menstrual period. Independent sample t- test, Spearman correlation and multivariate logistic regression were performed to find the association of different risk factors with female infertility. Results: Highest percentage (57.7%) of infertile females was in the age bracket of 26 to 35 years. The prevalence of primary infertility was 60.4% . Mean levels of LH and prolactin were significantly higher in women with primary infertility compared to those with secondary infertility. No significant difference was observed in the mean level of FSH . A significant positive correlation was found between infertility and age , marital history and infertility duration. On multivariate logistic regression analysis women with secondary infertility were more likely to be hypertensive(OR=2.126,95%CI:1.020-4.474, p-value0.044), using contraceptive OR = 5.876, 95% CI: 2.491–13.86, p-value .001),have hyperprolactenemia (OR=1.289,95%CI:0.960-1.996,p-value0.001) and have marital history of more than 16 years OR=12.166,95%CI:5.048-29.322, p-value0.001). Conclusion:Highest prevalence of infertility was seen in the age group of 26-35 years. Advanced age, hypertension, hyperprolactemia, use of contraceptive and marital history of more than 16 years are significantly associated with female infertilit